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Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim
Yumi Chung faces the classic teen dilemma: honor your parents or follow your dream? Stand Up, Yumi Chung! By Jessica Kim. Penguin Random House, 2020, 306 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Take my parents—please! Yumi Chung’s parents are typical Korean overachievers who brag about her older sister’s medical-school grades incessantly. Mom has also signed Yumi up for the SSAT so she can earn another year’s scholarship at Winston Preparatory Academy, and the ‘rents can garner bragging rights for their second-born, too. Shy, awkward Yumi doesn’t fit at WPA, where they call her Yu-Meat after catching a whiff of the family Korean-barbecue restaurant. She feels…
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Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
Dragon Hoops turns a high-school basketball championship season into a close-up look at life’s changes and choices. Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang. First Second, 2020, 445 pages. Reading Level: Teen, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 12-up “I’ve hated sports ever since I was a kid. Especially basketball.” Young Gene Yang was interested in comics and superheroes. An adult, he even fulfilled his dream of publishing an award-winning graphic novel (American-Born Chinese), while teaching computer science at Bishop O’Dowd Catholic High School in Oakland. Now, with more highly- praised books to his credit, can he keep up with two careers and a growing family? And if so, what’s the next…
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Rock Band Nine Lashes Release Third Recent New Single
One of the most popular modern Christian rock bands has been Nine Lashes. Since 2016 the band has been quiet, but in 2020 they have returned to the scene with some of the best music they have made. Following two previous singles, “Guilty Hands” and “Shadows,” the new single “Dear Self” continues to show great musical and vocal growth within the band. The song is written as a letter to one’s self, addressing feelings and thoughts of self-doubt and self-image struggles, all in a message of hope. The lyrics in the bridge hit home with I’ve left you far behind me/And for the grace I now call home/Now I’m finally…
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Fit For A King’s New Album ‘The Path’ Announced
The Christian-based metalcore band, Fit For A King, has announced their sixth studio album titled The Path. Lead single “Breaking The Mirror” has received a warm reception and fans now know when they can expect more from the band- September 18, 2020 is the release date for The Path on Solid State Records. The second single “God Of Fire” will be released July 9, 2020, just a couple days after the new album announcement. It is called “God of Fire” and features Ryo Kinoshita of the Japanese metalcore band Crystal Lake. About the new album, lead singer, Ryan Kirby, told Kerrang Magazine “With The Path we find our way out,…
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Kutless Guitarist Nate Parish Releases Solo Album
“Wear it low, strum it fast and tell it like it is.” This attitude is at the core of Nate Parrish’s newly released solo album (June 19, 2020). The album, titled I’M A WRECK is 10 songs of straightforward rock reminiscent of classic punk sounds like the Ramones, Social Distortion and MXPX, while also sampling flavors of Americana such as Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash. “I had so much frustration, sorrow and flat out anger built up in my heart, that writing this album has served as a kind of therapy for me”, Nate says, adding, “My approach to writing these songs was to keep the instrumentation simple and the…
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Jesus Starts at the Bottom
Jesus Starts at the Bottom Picture a woman who is about to rappel down the side of a tall cliff. Before taking off down the rock’s face, she will first make certain that the rope is long enough to reach the bottom. If the top of the cliff is one hundred feet high, she is… The post Jesus Starts at the Bottom appeared first on FaithGateway.
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1493 for Young People by Charles C. Mann
A fascinating historical look at globalization that covers botany, anthropology, politics, exploration, the slave trade, and more! 1493 for Young People: From Columbus’s Voyage to Globalization by Charles C. Mann and adapted by Rebecca Stefoff. Triangle Square, 2016. 416 pages. Reading Level: Ages 12-15Recommended For: Ages 10 and up (note considerations below) When Columbus reached the shores of the Americas, he unwittingly launched a new era in the history of Earth. Everything changed. Mann’s focus isn’t on Columbus “discovering” America. Rather, he looks at how Columbus’s voyage jumpstarted globalization, focusing in turn on trans-Atlantic trade and trans-Pacific trade. People’s craze for new products, or cheaper products (such as tobacco), fueled…
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Exclusive Premiere: Phil Vassar Re-cuts Timeless Song ‘This Is God’
Multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter Phil Vassar has re-recorded his song “This Is God” after an overwhelming response from fans and radio programmers during this pandemic. Originally recorded in 2003, the lyrics of “This Is God” are timeless and speak wisdom into today’s trials. Phil has taken the favorite of 17 years and updated the sound with even more layers of instruments, while his velvety and sometimes gritty vocals easily fly from deep bass notes into tenor heights.
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VIDEO PREMIERE The Gray Havens Rest
NewReleaseToday is premiering the new lyric video from The Gray Havens for “Rest,” the first new original music from the husband and wife duo since October 2018. You can watch it below. “In the fall of 2019, we were living with some friends,” explains Dave Radford. “The life of a full-time musician doesn’t allow for a lot of weekly rhythms. You’re gone a lot, and you’re back home for just long enough to get unpacked before you’re gone again. We were looking for a place to live, touring a lot, I had committed to too many things, and was waking up every day in a sort of panic about all…
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Fear Not Minute #4 – It’s OK To Be Good Enough
Legin is a spoken word artist, rapper and a dynamic speaker with a new EP hitting next Friday, July 17, 2020 and he brings his unique take on cultural issues of our day in his new video series for NewReleaseToday. In the third episode of the Fear Not Minute, Legin encourages us to lean into the gifts God has given us and attack fears of failure and rejection as we accept who God created us to be. Let’s talk about it… RELATED LINKS Fear Not Minute #3 Don’t Fear Forgiveness Fear Not Minute #2 Don’t Fear Getting Help Fear Not Minute #1 Do What You’re Afraid To Do[…]
